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The Village View: Community Opportunity to Purchase Act – What it is, Where it Started, and it’s Current Momentum
The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) is a bill designed to give qualified non-profits the opportunity to bid on a multi-family apartment building of four or more rental units when a landlord decides to sell. These qualified entities would have 20 days to submit a statement of interest, and then a bona fide offer…
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Public News Service: NY, US Consumer Coalition Works to Rein in Payday Lenders
Consumer rights groups in New York and across the country are organizing against payday lenders and paycheck advance apps they said are evading state lending laws.
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Consumer Groups Team up to Battle EWA Lobby
The House Financial Services Committee passed earned wage access legislation in a largely party-line vote, as well as a number of other bills in a multiday markup session ahead of the July 4 recess.
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City Limits: As COPA Makes a Comeback, What Does it Mean for Land to be Communally Owned?
The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) has risen from the ashes, and aims to give a boost to nonprofit organizations that promote community ownership—including community land trusts, which allow land to be directly owned by members.
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Brick Underground: Community Opportunity to Purchase Act has a Good Chance of Passing Under Mamdani
Last month, New York City Council Member Sandy Nurse revived legislation that would allow certain nonprofits and community land trusts a first shot at buying struggling multifamily properties—and this time, the mayor is in favor of the bill.
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Next City: A Community Land Trust Is Purchasing Commercial Property in NYC for the First Time
New York City’s growing community land trust movement will hit a new milestone next month, as the East New York Community Land Trust is set to become the first in city history to purchase a commercial property off the private market.
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Next City: A South Bronx Health Center Will Rise Again, Thanks to Local Organizers
The empty, worn-down building at 349 East 40th Street in the South Bronx has had many lives.
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Brownstoner: Community Land Trust Plans ‘Liberation Center’ in East New York Warehouse
The two-story industrial building at 161 Jamaica Avenue has had many uses over its 120-plus-year history. It housed a wagon painting business, a radio coil manufacturer, and a shirt making factory. It’s been the headquarters for The American Appliances and Machinery Manufacturing Co. and a place where industrial doors were made. Most recently, cabinets were…
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Wired: AI Is Taking Over the Most Cursed Job in the World
She introduced herself as Eve, but Ben knew right away that the voice on the other end of the line was a bot. Eve knew his name. She also knew how much money he’d owed a former landlord ($266). She didn’t seem to know that he’d settled with a collection agency five months prior. Eve…
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New Economy Project Advances Community Ownership in New York
New Economy Project was featured in the latest case study in the Center for Community Investment’s Ecosystem Stewardship: Building the Infrastructure for Shared Ownership series.
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Shelterforce: How Public Banks Can Meet Public Needs
What could your community do if your city or state owned its own bank? In 2020, the nonprofit organization Action Center on Race & the Economy published a study showing that state and local governments pay $160 billion in annual interest on the money they borrow.
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Online Payday Lenders Look to Skirt New York Restrictions
Assemblymember Steven Raga, a Queens Democrat, and Katy Lasell, of the New Economy Project, make the case for rewriting New York’s consumer protection laws to regulate the latest evolution of payday lenders that are skirting existing restrictions on loans.